| We arrived in Casablanca and found it easy to get a taxi to the Royal Mansour Hotel. The hotel is beautifully decorated. We met our Moroccan government guide, Ben, shown here, and also our Tour Director, Hassan.
| The next day we began our tour of the Imperial Cities of Morocco. Each city on the route has served as the capital of Morocco at various times in its history. First on the list was the current capital, Rabat. King Hassan II, a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, resides in a beautiful palace in Rabat.
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| The Hassan Tower is a great unfinished mosque. Begun in 1195, the minaret was intended to be the largest in the Muslim world, soaring some 86m (260ft) into the sky. Construction was abandoned, however, upon the death of the sultan, Yacoub al-Mansour, in 1199 and the tower instead rises to just 44m (140ft). Two hundred columns mark out the area where the mosque was to stand.
This day was a bit overcast and we had sprinkles of rain now and then. We were in the "green" part of Morocco where the rain falls. Soon we would cross the Atlas mountains into the desert portion and leave the rain behind.
| | This beautiful Mausoleum is dedicated to King Mohammed V, father of the present King. It stands directly across from the Hassan Tower. It is beautifully decorated with marble and tile work. Like all Muslim art, it contains no human or animal figures but has lots of geometric patterns and beautiful calligraphic verses from the Koran.
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| Rising over the seacoast in Rabat is the gigantic fortress known as the Kasbah of Oudaias. A Kasbah or Casbah is simply any fortified place or castle, ranging from huge fortresses like this one to small outposts in the desert.
| "Come with me to the Casbah." Inside the Casbah are narrow winding lanes, and they are all decorated in this same blue and white color scheme. Turning into a door can lead to anything. In our case, the one our guide led us into was a carpet store!
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| Turning away from the sea coast to travel inland, we came to the second Imperial City, Meknes. It was the 17th century capital under Sultan Moulay Ismail. The Bab el-Mansour is considered one of the most beautiful gateways in Morocco.
| The final Imperial City of the day is Fez, founded in the 9th century by King Moulay Idriss. We were welcomed to the Zalagh Parc Palace Hotel in the traditional Moroccan way -- with mint tea. Over the course of the trip we became very accustomed to it. No visitor can ever enter any place without being offered this refreshment.
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